Camp Winnebago

The number one priority at Camp Winnebago is youth development where; through intentional role modeling, learning, and fun, we help boys develop into happy and successful young men. A key component of camp's success is the hiring and training of our staff. We realize that many of our staff, young adults themselves, are also in a time of profound and meaningful development. By staying mindful of their process, we ensure a much higher likelihood that they will buy into our mission. For this reason, we have established a week long Staff and Leadership Training (SALT), which helps prepare our staff for their jobs as great counselors each summer. There are a number of goals each summer as we prepare for SALT. On the most basic level we want to mold a cohesive staff unit to create a fun and safe place for boys at camp. We have found one of the most useful tools in this process is the creation of clear and specific group goals. The group creates their own goals during the first day of training and each year many of the themes are quite similar; to come together as a group, to create a safe space for the staff and campers, and at the end of SALT to feel fully prepared to teach and be excellent role models for the campers. The beauty of this process is the goals of the staff organically coincide with both their core values and the guiding principles that we hold dear at Winnebago and have done so since 1919. One aspect of forming and managing our staff is that when our staff feels supported and are able to learn they are more effective counselors. We achieve this by balancing group and individual goals. One of the most popular and important sessions is with a licensed psychologist who engages us in an exploration of personal values and self-identity. By the end of the week each staff member has created personal goals and throughout the summer, we encourage staff members to balance the needs of camp and the campers while cultivating awareness of how the Winnebago experience correlates to their own learning and skill development. It is very important to not only spend our first week together becoming a cohesive, high functioning group but to remain committed to this process throughout the summer. Through various mechanisms including weekly staff meetings, a summer long feedback process, and directed skill building activities, Camp Winnebago achieves our goal of making a lasting positive impact on individuals by cultivating introspection, positivity and a safe enjoyable experience for campers and counselors alike!